Clippers’ Patrick Beverley thinks Shai Gilgeous-Alexander should be in Rookie of the Year conversation

For most of the season, many people would agree to exactly how the Rookie of the Year award race is going. Luka Doncic is at the top, but Trae Young isn’t far behind. After those two, there’s a steep drop off. Patrick Beverley of Los Angeles Clippers doesn’t think so though. He’s throwing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s name into the ring.

Been keeping my mouth close for a while. But how is @shaiglalex not in discussion for rookie of the year. Leading a team to the western conference playoffs.. imma sip this tea tho. No🧢

I’m going to start off by pointing something out. At no point in that tweet does Patrick Beverley say Shai Gilgeous-Alexander should be leading the race. He’s simply pointing out that Gilgeous-Alexander isn’t getting the recognition he deserves.

Beverley has a solid point too. It’s easy to overlook rookies when there are two wunderkinds like Luka Doncic and Trae Young.

Both are doing things from rookies that you rarely see. Doncic is putting up ridiculous stat lines and triple-doubles regularly. While Young is pouring at the assists and scoring at a fast rate.

Gilgeous-Alexander doesn’t do those things all that well. On the year, he’s averaging 10.4 points, 3.1 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game. He came into the year as a raw prospect and has very much shown that he can be phenomenal down the round.

Those numbers aren’t exactly ROY numbers this season though.

That being said, not everything translates to numbers. Gilgeous-Alexander has indeed been a major piece in a Los Angeles Clippers team that’s exceeded expectations.

No one expected them to be very competent this season. Instead, they’re 44-30 and in fifth place in the Western Conference.

The playoffs seem like a certainty for the Clippers at this point. That’s something the Dallas Mavericks and Atlanta Hawks won’t be doing this year.

To Beverley’s credit. There is some merit behind his claims. This isn’t just someone hyping up a teammate for no reason. That being said though, this is the Rookie of the Year race – not MVP.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has absolutely impressed in his rookie year, and deserves more credit than he’s getting. Maybe he’ll finish third, but this really is a two-man race.